المحتوى متاح باللغة الإنجليزية

In this article Ana Rumbeu Daviu, the Training Director at the Valenciaport Foundation (Spain), a partner of the YEP MED project, shares her vision for the training needs in the digital economy in light of the rapid growth in digitalisation and other innovative trend.

This morning before writing this article I asked my son (10 years old) what about the YouTubers that he follows appealed to him and what unique qualities do they have? Why does he like them? His answer: because they are creative, invent funny things, passionately talk about what they do, discover tricks and tips to advance in games, share their experiences live, upload new content with visual effects every week, and have many followers ... Our conversation was cut short as we were late for school, but it was evident that the list of such qualities was more extensive. And it got me to thinking about the modern youth. 

How does this relate to the port logistic trainings offered under the YEP MED project? To translate my son’s perspective for adults, my pre-teen was recognising skills that the youth value and recognise. These include creativity, innovation, passion, consistency, commitment, an ability to engage others, being a good communicator, recognising ones’s strengths and opting to specialize in them, having a good grasp of market segmentation, understanding the importance of clients relationships, communities and followers and sharing all know-how with them, learning and mastering new technological developments and then turning them into enduring service/business models. All of these are skills that are now needed in all sectors – port logistics being no exception.

Looking at it this way, the answer to the question "What are the new training needs in the new logistics?" seems simple: They are the needs of the digital age. Training has to undergo a transformation to ensure that digital skills are achieved. 

These days, education and training play a decisive role. Digital competence has become an indispensable part of basic 21st-century literacy. As such, both teachers and training centres must ensure that their students acquire and develop these key competences. 

Digital competence (DC) involves the creative, critical and safe use of information and communication technologies to achieve goals related to work, employability, learning, leisure time, inclusion and participation in society (Source: Ministry of Education and Science of the Government of Spain).

Learning in this new digital landscape requires students to have a more proactive attitude and take ownership of their own learning process. Indeed, thanks to the use of technological tools and platforms, they will often do this autonomously, as “captains of their own ships”. Therefore, the role of the teacher has also necessarily changed, transforming into a beacon to direct students, a mentor with a less ubiquitous presence throughout the process, but one who guides and pushes its disciples. This is when individual responsibility and co-responsibility are evident in the learning process.

Virtual Learning in the YEP MED environment

Virtual learning is not about travelling alone. Rather, it is about creating a collaborative community that shares and grows together. As such, we cannot lose sight of the skills of leadership, team work, communication and negotiation. We also have to continue to work on the development of emotional intelligence alongside other skills that help bring people together for a common purpose. There is no doubt that all this will continue to be critical in the digital age.

As a Knowledge Centre Of The Mediterranean's Leading Port Cluster, we here at FUNDACIÓN VALENCIAPORT (Valenciaport Foundation) are working towards this digital transformation to facilitate the acquisition of these critical digital skills in our training programmes. The programmes have been designed to be practical, bringing training closer to reality. Let's not forget that the goals of digital competence centre on their relationships with work performances and employability. A clear example of an initiative launched in this regard together with 7 other port communities in the Mediterranean basin is the YEP MED project (Youth Employment in Ports of the Mediterranean) funded by the ENI CBC Med Programme.  YEP MED was born out of the need to better match the labour market skills needs and dual TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) offers in the Mediterranean port communities' sector in order to contribute to jobs creation and facilitate productive economic growth. 

Ports connected to international trade, environment and sustainability, digitalisation, port logistics and transport networks are currently focused on job creation in the Blue Economy. YEP MED will adapt training curricula in each logistic port community to the real needs of the productive sectors, introducing training based on:

-    The use of a Virtual Classroom as a digital tool to generate a learning community that shares knowledge. 
-    Gamification - incorporating learning through games, such as the Funtrades initiative.
-    Experiential learning through activities "outside the classroom" to have a higher impact on people and transfer this experience to the business environment.
-    Learning by doing, which takes centre stage, highlighting the practical approach to learning where students interact with their environment to adapt and learn through case studies.
-    A simulated company environment: based on the performance by students of the activities and functions of the different jobs in the port logistics community.

If we manage to incorporate all these key aspects of the digital environment into training and transform it, we will be the new YouTubers of logistics. With a bit of luck and persevering work, I am sure that not only my son would give me his ‘like,’ but so would many other young people to whom we will have given tools that favour their employability.

Ana Rumbeu Daviu
Training Director
Fundación Valenciaport